Posts Tagged ‘sweet treats’

These cookies started out as just a simple chocolate chip cookie but ended up being one of the best loaded chewy chocolate chip cookie I’ve ever had!

So this cookie literally just happened. It didn’t start off this way but dear lord I’m so happy that it ended the way it did! Since I’m not really able to cook or bake yet we hadn’t really had too many desserts that took actual baking or prep work. A lot of the stuff we’ve been having were either no bake or super, super simple. While Mr. Fantabulous is my main chef right now, he’s also still not a huge fan of cooking. Oh he loves the end game where he gets to dig in but the whole “what do you mean I have to cook this too???” is still too ‘new’ to him. Perhaps he thought food just magically appeared and that there wasn’t any prep time to it.

But damn it… I wanted cookies. So while he was out cutting the grass I got the ingredients out…one by one. Thankfully he had the mixer out on the counter for me. Now I was going to make just regular chocolate chip cookies as those are his favorite but I was just craving a more chewy cookie, like an oatmeal raisin. Now the rest… yeah it kinda just happened.

So here’s the thing, I decided I wanted oats in my cookie but I didn’t want to have to chill my dough overnight to soften. That’s when I recalled the ‘milk oats’ trick my Grandma used in her meatloaf. See she used oats in her meatloaf instead of bread. This allowed for a more moister meatloaf. But in order to get it moist, you had to soak the oats in milk. So I figured why not try and incorporate that method into a cookie?

Rich triple chocolate chunk cookie crust layered with Snickers bits, a rich & fudgy brownie and even more Snickers! But wait,. there’s more! The whole thing is finished with a drizzle of chocolate ganache & caramel and a sprinkling of flake sea salt. These are truly OMG! Bars

Oh people this recipe… Now I’ve been making these bars for decades and through out the years the name has changed. At first they were known as the “Chocolate Chip Cookie Snickers Brownie Bars with Caramel and Ganache”. Yeah, just totally rolls off the tongue, huh? That’s how it was listed on my selection list however customers would call me with a “Hey Lor, can you make me a dozen of those Fudgy Chocolate Chip bar things?” to “I need those Sinfully Sexy bars” to some names that are so not appropriate for this blog. We’re talking those names would make Fifty Shades of Grey blush. Then finally, about 6 years ago I took a batch of these into work and one co-worker took a bite and said “OMG! These Bars!!!” The name just hit me.. “OMG! Bars” – it made sense. You get so many flavors and textures in every single bite that literally your taste buds are going to go berserk over this.

So last week we had our company Christmas party and of course yours truly forgot until the night before that she had to make something to take in. Office Christmas parties are pretty awesome – people bring in foods, things are decorated and for once you get to take a break from the stress and just truly enjoy your co-workers. I’m fortunate that the company I’m at now, everyone gets along. There’s no drama or for me, no cows – remember that lady I worked with years ago that was the BIGGEST witch ever? She hated me because well, I called her out numerous times for not doing her job. She was vile and mean. OMG I would not have it put it past her to be that person that would push a kid down in front of her to get to the front of the line.

Yeah, we don’t have any of those at my current place, thankfully.

Anyways back to these parties… For me I love to see the food tables and what folks bring in. Crockpots are abundant, trays of treats and sweets galore and tin trays of hot foods – chicken, pulled pork, mac ‘n cheese and so forth. Since some in my office know “who I am” (rolls her eyes as I hate saying that – I’m just me), they tend to look to me to help lead the set up and bring in deliciousness. After our last party, I was instructed that whatever I make for our Christmas party, I need to make double. Mine were gone in minutes and many missed out on what I brought in.

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #SnackBrighter #CollectiveBias

Oh hello Pittsburgh Summer and its 893% humidity. So for those of you that aren’t familiar with Pittsburgh Summers let me give it to you straight – they pretty much happen overnight (i.e., we skip Spring), they are hot but 85-92F is bearable BUT, yes but they are laden with rain and or severe humidity. In a nut shell, it’s pretty terrible HOWEVER that’s pretty much the only negative thing about this city. I’m a ‘burgh girl and love it. I love the food, the people, the hometown pride. Now if I could just take Scottsdale, Arizona’s weather and bring it here I’d be set.

When the great folks from Outshine reached out to me to create something delicious and innovative featuring their Outshine Strawberry Yogurt bars I was pumped. Have you tried them yet? Okay seriously you need to stop reading this, head to Walmart and pick up a box of them. While you’re there grab another box of their other flavors! Did you know that for more than 20 years, they’ve been making delicious fruit bars out of ingredients like sweet strawberries, ripe mangoes and juicy peaches? I know, right! That’s awesome! Today, America’s favorite fruit bar also offers an array of refreshing products like Fruit & Veggie, Coconut Waters™ and Simply Yogurt Bars.

Did you ever get tired of the same old type of dessert? Brownies are brownies are brownies. Flour, cocoa, eggs, sugar plus a few other ingredients and you end up with an awesome end result. Sure you can frost them, add nuts or cookies to the batter. Heck you can add load of chocolate. Or better yet, cut ’em, stick a wooden stick in them, freeze them then dip ’em in chocolate and sprinkles/nuts and you have one AMAZING treat! I have a KILLER treat like that which also includes fudge and ice cream on a stick that I HAVE to share with you later this summer!

This recipe kind of just evolved. You see I had to make 2 types of brownies for an order and the customer said “Just make ’em different” is all she said. No rhyme or reason – just have at it as she would say. Now this honestly is some of the most difficult type of orders as I am not one to guess what the customer wants. It’s a HUGE compliment when they tell me to make whatever as that means they love all the stuff I make but what if I make something and they aren’t say in the mood for peanuts or raspberries? It’s tough.

Living in Po-dunkville, there’s not much ‘city life’ out this way. But one thing we do have are farms… farms with lots and lots and LOTS of amazing fruits, vegetables and animals. That being said, we have a local farm stand that has the best apples I’ve ever had. Every time I go there and hear “How ’bout ‘dem apples?” I chuckle and start thinking of Good Will Hunting (love that movie!).

Well yesterday on Facebook, Nancy (one of the TKW Family members) asked me for a recipe for apple fritters. Now I haven’t made these in a coon’s age (can you tell I’ve been living in the country too long?? Coon’s age? Really? Did I just say that? How long do coon’s live anyway?) but as soon as I read her request for this recipe I HAD to make some. I mean my stomach started grumbling and with it being chilly here this was a perfect Fall treat!

Now it’s a good thing I live in the middle of no where as Mr. Fantabulous is an apple fiend! I mean he loooooooooooooooves them. I have a hard time keeping them in hand which isn’t a bad thing. I mean he could be after say chips or something smelly (like bleuaka smells like feetcheese.. *gag!*). As I ventured out to the kitchen I saw that I had a couple Read the rest of this entry »